By William Booth

A man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of committing terror offences after a Friday morning stabbing attack at shopping mall in Manchester, in northern England.

Greater Manchester Police said three victims - two women and a man - were taken to hospital with stab wounds and a fourth person was treated at the scene.

Forensic officers examine the scene of the stabbing at Manchester's Arndale Centre.Credit:Getty Images

Police did not name the terror suspect nor describe his possible motives or affiliations.

Images on social media showed a man in a puffer jacket on the ground, with one police officer holding his wrists and a second officer standing over him with a Taser.

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"In these early stages, we are keeping an open mind about the motivation of this terrible incident and the circumstances as we know them," police said.

In a series of statements, the Greater Manchester Police said they were alerted to reports of multiple stabbings at Arndale Shopping Centre in Manchester City Centre at 11.17am, local time.

"Given the location of the incident and its nature, officers from Counter Terrorism Police North West are leading the investigation as we determine the circumstances," police said.

Britain's MI5 service, the domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, is also monitoring the case, police said.

Witnesses at the shopping centre told Britain's Press Association that a man tried to slash people, seemingly at random.

A shop worker, who gave his name only as Jordan, 23, said: "A man was running around with a knife lunging at multiple people, one of which came into my store visibly shaken with a small graze."

Jordan said: "Soon after, security staff told all retail staff to close their doors and move the public to the back of the stores."

Freddie Houlder, 22, was in the Arndale mall when he heard "a load of screams just outside" the store he was in.

Houlder told the Press Association that a woman came into the shop and told others that "a guy just ran past the shop and tried to stab me."

Houlder said: "Luckily she had quite a thick jacket - she thought originally it was a fake knife because of how easily it grazed off, but police came in and said it was a real knife and she burst into tears."

The Arndale shopping centre is a short walk from the Manchester Arena, where 22 people were killed by an explosion outside an Ariane Grande concert in May 2017. Suicide bomber Salman Abedi died in that attack; his brother is on trial for conspiring to cause the blast.

The mall has undergone major renovations since 1996, when it was damaged following an attack in which the Irish Republican Army detonated a 1500-kilogram device nearby.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "shocked" by the stabbings. "Thank you to our excellent emergency services who responded and who are now investigating what happened," Johnson tweeted.